Inlet valve assembly for pneumatic system

ABSTRACT

An inlet valve assembly for a pneumatic system having a mounting plate securable to a room wall. A one piece tubular inlet member is provided with integral keeper means for holding it detachably assembled to the mounting plate and provides a valve seat for a valve member mounted on the inner side of a pivoting cover plate for the assembly. A concealed control switch for the pneumatic system is operated automatically by opening and closing the cover plate.

United States Patent Tucker [4 1 May 9, 1972 [s41 INLET VALVE ASSEMBLYFOR 2,799,518 7/1957 Anderson et al ..285/194 x PNEUMATIC SYSTEM3,232,644 1362 afegerlet al l. ))2 1,131,399 1 l c ine I 1 InventCouncil Glendale Calif- 3,036,814 5/1962 Stevens? ..251/299 73 A I N u rM f C u T 3,291,927 12/1966 Riley et al ..l37/360X I l sslgnee pl: C ity3:12; unng MP" em 3,325,193 6/1967 Castello l ..285/l89 3,468,334 9/1969Hamrick ..137/360 X [22] Filed: Feb. 9, 1970 Primary Examiner-Henry T.Klinksiek [21] Appl' 9892 Attorney-Sellers and Brace [52] U.S.Cl..25l/299, 137/360, 285/210 [57] ABSTRACT 51 lnt.Cl. ..Fl6k l/l6,Fl6l 00[58] Field Search 137/360, ]]299 An inlet valve assembly for a pneumat1csystem havmg a 285/203 189 2083159310 202 '205 238 158 mounting platesecurable to a room wall. A one piece tubular inlet member is providedwith integral keeper means for hold- 85/] 1 32 [SI/4L7 ing it detachablyassembled to the mounting plate and provides a valve seat for a valvemember mounted on the inner [56] References Cited side of a pivotingcover plate for the assembly. A concealed n- STATES p control switch forthe pneumatic system is operated automati- 2 241 293 5 94 Campbell285/208 X cally by opening and closing the cover plate. 216951793 11/1954 Minton ..285/l94 x 9 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures I A I 1 4 .45

E 9 d Z4 {L 1 L I J PATENTEDMAY 9 1972 INVE NTO R (w/v04 4. MM

INLET VALVE ASSEMBLY FOR PNEUMATIC SYSTEM The invention inlet valveassembly is characterized by its simplicity, small number of components,concealment of all fasteners and unsightly components, and the provisionof a flexible valve member having self aligning positive seatingcharacteristics. The valve seat is provided at the end of a tubularsleeve held assembled to the mounting plate by self-locking keepertangs. The appearance cover is hinged to one marginal edge of themounting plate and has a flexibly supported valve member secured to theunderside thereof for seating engage ment with the valve seat and isformed to conceal all other components of the assembly including themounting screws.

Accordingly it is a primary object of the present invention to providean improved and superior inlet valve assembly for use to control the airinlet of a pneumatic system.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a simplified inletvalve system for installed suction cleaner systems.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an inlet valveassembly quickly fabricated from a minimum number of components some ofwhich are heldassembled without need for fasteners or tools.

These and other more specific objects will appear upon reading thefollowing specification and claims and upon considering in connectiontherewith the attached drawing to which they relate.

Referring now to the drawing in which a preferred embodiment of theinvention is illustrated:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view, partly in section, of a preferredembodiment of the valve assembly installed in a wall;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along line2-2 on FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view taken along line 3-3 on FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view takenalong line4-4 on FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG.3 but showing the inlet sleeve in apartially installed position in the mounting plate;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6-6 on FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along line7-7 on FIG. 5; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the valve seat member as viewed from itsinner end.

Referring more particularly initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shownan illustrative embodiment of the invention valveassembly designatedgenerally 10. The principal components of this assembly include amounting plate 11, a tubular inlet and valve seat member 12, a valvesub-assembly -13, an appearance cover 14 and a control switch 15. Theassembly also may include a mounting bracket 16 having elongatedopenings 17 by which the bracket can be secured by screws 18 to wallstuds or other structures, not shown. In FIG. 2, bracket 16 isillustrated as mounted directly against the edge of the stud or the likebuilding structure whereas mounting plate 11 for the valve assemblyusually bears against the wall covering, such as the plaster indicatedat 20. Plate 11 is held in this position by mounting screws 19 extendinginto threaded openings formed in bracket 16.

Mounting plate 11 has upturned flanges 22 along its opposite edges. Thelower end portions of these flanges are utilized to support hinge pin 24for cover 14. A strong torsion spring 25 (FIG. 1) encircles the hingepin with one end 27 anchored to plate 11 and the other end 28 bearingagainst the lower edge of the cover in a manner to urge it firmly to itsclosed position with its inturned edges normally bearing against theroom wall thereby fully concealing mounting plate 11.

Tubular sleeve 12 is molded in one piece from suitable material such asa strong rigid thermoplastic material. Its forward or inlet end isprovided with a narrow slightly flexible radial flange 30 formed with apair of relatively narrow slots 31, 32 diametrically opposite oneanother. These notches overlie a pair of wedge-shaped keeperlugs 33,34having their outer radial ends spaced from the rear face from flange 30by the thickness of mounting plate 11.

Referring to FIGS; 3 and 5, it is pointed out that mounting plate 11 hasa central circular opening having a loose fit with the cylindrical outersurface of sleeve 12. One edge of this opening is notched at 36 toreceive one of the locking lugs 33 and the diametrically opposed edge ofthe opening has a long arcuate notch 37-slightly greater in length thana very shallow keeper lug 38 projecting rearwardly' from the inner faceof flange 30.

The assembly of sleeve 12 to its supporting opening in mounting plate 11is accomplished as follows. The first step is to insert the innerunflanged end of the sleeve through the hole in the mounting plate fromthe room side of the plate with keeper lugs 33,34 aligned with openings36 and 37. As shown in FIGS. 5-7, lug 34 is aligned with opening 36 andlug 33 is located centrally of the long arcuate notch 37. The lockingengagement of the lugs with the mounting plate is then accomplished bypressing inwardly on the outer end of sleeve I2 causing the right handside of flange 30 to be flexed outwardly as is indicated in FIGS. 6 and7. This is because the low-height locking lug 38 along the rim edge offlange 30 will bear against the outer surface of mounting plate 11.While the sleeve is being pressed inwardly in this manner it is rotatedclockwise, as is indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5, causing first lug 34and then lug 33 to engage against the rear rim edge of the opening inthe mounting plate 11. The operator continues to rotate the sleeveclockwise for a quarter turn in which position the locking lug 38 willbe aligned with and will drop into the long notch37 and therebypositively locking the sleeve against counter rotation. When so properlyassembled the sleeve will be in the position shown in FIG. 3 with lug 38exactly seated in notch 37, and with the keeper lugs 33,34 disposedbehind the locking plate as isbest illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 toprevent axial displacement of the sleeve As is made clear in FIG. 7,

one end of keeper lug 38 is substantially normal to the adjacent face offlange 30 whereas its opposite end is acutely inclined to this surfaceand permits a person familiar with the construction to disassemble theparts by applying sufficient torquing force to member 12 to disengagethe lug 38 from notch 37 by cam action.

The valve sub-assembly 13 comprises a threaded mounting stud 40spotwelded to the interior central surface of cover 14. Loosely mountedover this stud is a washer 41, a pair of discs 42, a considerably largerdisc of soft rubber 43, and a pressure plate'44 all held in assembledposition on stud 40 by a keeper '45. The outer rim edge47 of sleeve 12provides a valve seat against which the resilient valve member 43 seatsin the closed position of cover 14. When the cover is swung to its openposition, as is indicated in dot and dash lines in FIG. 2, the valveassembly is carried with it allowing full and unhampered access to theouter inlet end of sleeve 12. The inner end of this sleeve fits into-atube 49 of the pneumatic system and is sealed thereto in any suitablemanner, as by adhesive, or it may simply have a closepress and frictionfit. When the cover is open, the inlet end of a suction cleaner hose canbe inserted into sleeve 12 where it is frictionally retainedsupplemented by the low pressure condition existing in the cleaningsystem.

Valve assembly 10 also preferably includes a push button switchl5 havinglead wires connected to suitable controls for the suction cleaningsystem. A reciprocating control button 52 is engaged by the cover as thelatter moves to its closed position thereby opening the switch andde-energizing the suction cleaning system. However, upon opening of thecover the spring pressed control button 52 moves outwardly closing theswitch and starting the suction cleaner.

While the particular inlet valve assembly for pneumatic system hereinshown and disclosed in detail is fully capable of .attaining the objectsand providing the advantages hereinbedesign herein shown other than asdefined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An inlet valve assembly for a pneumatic system or the like, saidassembly having a mounting member provided with a large area openinghaving a plurality of notches spaced about the edge thereof, a flangedtubular fitting having a loose fit in said opening and includingradially projecting keeper means sized for assembly through a pluralityof said notches and axially spaced from the flange on said tubularfitting by a distance at least as great as the thickness of saidmounting member and cooperating with said flange to hold said tubularfitting assembled within said opening when said fitting is rotated tomisalign said keeper means with the notches in the edge of said opening,the face of said flange adjacent the surface of said mounting memberincluding a low-height axial projection means extendingcircumferentially of said flange and positioned to seat in one of saidnotches and to engage the edge thereof and cooperating with said keepermeans and the edge of one of said notches to prevent counter rotation ofsaid tubular fitting about its axis, at least one of said flanges andsaid member being flexible, and valve means movably supported on saidmounting member for movement into and out of seating engagement with oneend of said tubular fitting.

2. A valve assembly as defined in claim 1 characterized in that saidflange is relatively thin and flexible and has a radial width at leastapproximating the radial depth of said notch so as to conceal said notchin the assembled position of said fitting to said mounting plate.

3. A valve assembly as defined in claim 2 characterized in that saidtubular fitting is formed in one unitary piece from molded plasticmaterial.

4. A valve assembly as defined in claim 1 characterized in that saidlow-height projection means is circumferentially spaced from said keepermeans thereby to assure that said tubular fitting will be locked inassembled position only when said keeper means is rotated apredetermined distance out of alignment with said notch in the edge ofsaid opening.

5. A valve assembly as defined in claim 1 characterized in that one ofsaid notches is substantially wider than any other notch.

6. A valve assembly as defined in claim 1 characterized in that one ofsaid notches is substantially wider than any other notch, and saidlow-height projection means having its remote edges spaced apart toengage an adjacent edge of said wider notch when said tubular fitting isin its proper assembled positron.

7. A valve assembly as defined in claim 1 characterized in that saidvalve means is mounted on the interior side of an appearance coverplate, and hinge means pivotally connecting said cover plate to saidmounting plate.

8. A valve assembly as defined in claim 7 characterized in the provisionof torsion spring means urging said cover plate pivoted to closedposition with said valve means seated against the adjacent end of saidtubular fitting.

9. A valve assembly as defined in claim 1 characterized in that thelow-height axial projection means has a shoulder generally normal tosaid flange at one end thereof and a shoulder inclined acutely to theadjacent radial face of said flange at its other end.

1. An inlet valve assembly for a pneumatic system or the like, saidassembly having a mounting member provided with a large area openinghaving a plurality of notches spaced about the edge thereof, a flangedtubular fitting having a loose fit in said opening and includingradially projecting keeper means sized for assembly through a pluralityof said notches and axially spaced from the flange on said tubularfitting by a distance at least as great as the thickness of saidmounting member and cooperating with said flange to hold said tubularfitting assembled within said opening when said fitting is rotated tomisalign said keeper means with the notches in the edge of said opening,the face of said flange adjacent the surface of said mounting memberincluding a low-height axial projection means extendingcircumferentially of said flange and positioned to seat in one of saidnotches and to engage the edge thereof and cooperating with said keepermeans and the edge of one of said notches to prevent counter rotation ofsaid tubular fitting about its axis, at least one of said flanges andsaid member being flexible, and valve means movably supported on saidmounting member for movement into and out of seating engagement with oneend of said tubular fitting.
 2. A valve assembly as defined in claim 1characterized in that said flange is relatively thin and flexible andhas a radial width at least approximating the radial depth of said notchso as to conceal said notch in the assembled position of said fitting tosaid mounting plate.
 3. A valve assembly as defined in claim 2characterized in that said tubular fitting is formed in one unitarypiece from molded plastic material.
 4. A valve assembly as defined inclaim 1 characterized in that said low-height projection means iscircumferentially spaced from said keeper means thereby to assure thatsaid tubular fitting will be locked in assembled position only when saidkeeper means is rotated a predetermined distance out of alignment withsaid notch in the edge of said opening.
 5. A valve assembly as definedin claim 1 characterized in that one of said notches is substantiallywider than any other notch.
 6. A valve assembly as defined in claim 1characterized in that one of said notches is substantially wider thanany other notch, and said low-height projection meanS having its remoteedges spaced apart to engage an adjacent edge of said wider notch whensaid tubular fitting is in its proper assembled position.
 7. A valveassembly as defined in claim 1 characterized in that said valve means ismounted on the interior side of an appearance cover plate, and hingemeans pivotally connecting said cover plate to said mounting plate.
 8. Avalve assembly as defined in claim 7 characterized in the provision oftorsion spring means urging said cover plate pivoted to closed positionwith said valve means seated against the adjacent end of said tubularfitting.
 9. A valve assembly as defined in claim 1 characterized in thatthe low-height axial projection means has a shoulder generally normal tosaid flange at one end thereof and a shoulder inclined acutely to theadjacent radial face of said flange at its other end.